By the numbers

It was one year ago tonight that I went on my first date with Mr. Right. 365 days. He says that was the night he knew he wanted to marry me. I get a bit sentimental about anniversaries - my sweet husband has been hearing a lot of this lately...

"Honey, one year ago today I started liking you."

"Honey, one year ago today you asked for my phone number."

"Honey, one year ago today I got so mad at you because you didn't call me for a WHOLE WEEK after asking for my number... and then you made it all better by FINALLY asking me out. And I melted. And I've never been the same."

So it's been 365 glorious days. Here are some other recent milestones, by the numbers:

44: Number of days since I married Mr. Right

78,943: Number of times I've thanked the Lord for blessing me with Mr. Right.

0: Number of nights I've slept through the night since marrying Mr. Right

0: Number of nights I'd trade Mr. Right for a good night's sleep

3: Number of books I've read on my Nook in the past 44 days

2: Number of those books I'd recommend (Laura Bush's autobiography, and the new John Grisham novel)

1: Number of Nicholas Sparks books I've read this month that I thought were utterly worthless

15: Number of days I've been on antibiotics this month (three more to go)

4: Number of meds I've run through trying to get better

3: Number of times I've forced myself to eat yogurt because that's what you do when you take antibiotics, even though I'm not sure why (and I hate yogurt)

2: Number of times I've been to the doctor

2: Number of dates we've been on that ended with me ALMOST throwing up on my husband

687: Number of times people have joked/suggested/thought that the reason I'm sick is because I'm pregnant (they're wrong)

1: Number of dinner parties I've hosted since January (we'll make that two, later this week)

15: Number of times I would have hosted a dinner party if I hadn't been sick all month

1: Number of times I visited my beloved old Sunday School class, just to say hello

1: Number of new Bible studies I've joined this month - Isaiah is rocking my socks off

768: Number of times I've thought, "Ummmm....????" while studying Isaiah

Every time: Number of times I've studied Isaiah and been convicted, encouraged, or in awe of the God I serve

I may now glow in the dark from all of the drugs that have flowed through my system these past few weeks, but this time has been such a blessing... full of belly laughs and aha moments, good books and forced rest.

Adventures as a newlywed: The "Aha!" Moments

I'm not sure I ever thought I'd get married. I always hoped I would, but deep down in the darkest recesses of my mind there was always a lingering thought of "What if I NEVER find Mr. Right?" I prayed for years that if God wanted me single, that I could be content with that. In fact, that was the toughest prayer to pray - even the "Lord, wherever you lead me, I'll go" missionary prayer was easier than the "If you want me to be single, then I'll be single" prayer. And yet I finally got there, and prayed it, and most days I meant it.

But thankfully God knew I'd find Mr. Right. It just took me 30 years, three apartments, one rent house, my current home, and 13 roommates to seal the deal. In the meantime, I got pretty good at taking care of myself. Good at figuring out how to hang pictures, lift heavy boxes, and repair things with duct tape (you can fix ANYTHING with duct tape).

And then one day I woke up and I found myself living with a HUSBAND. (gasp). Let me tell you, it's glorious. And funny. And a little weird. But mostly glorious. Here are some of my favorite "Aha!" moments of our first month as newlyweds.

1. Before Mr. Right, I slept on a bed frame that was held together by duct tape. For SEVEN YEARS. Back in 2004 I didn't know how to put it together, so instead I figured I'd just wrap it in a pound of duct tape and pray that my mattress never came crashing down. And it didn't, even through three moves. But now I have a handy husband who not only correctly put together our bed frame, but drilled it into our headboard. Watching him with his power drill was SO hot.

2. There is a work bench. In my garage. With tools on it. Before Mr. Right moved in, all of the tools I owned could fit into a tiny clear plastic Target bin, slightly larger than a bread box. I'm pretty sure Mr. Right just threw all of that out. I'm also pretty sure he'll never use my high heel as a hammer... which I did too many times to count.

3. I wash boy clothes. Mr. Right found me gigglin in the laundry room one night, saying "I'm folding MEN'S underwear!" Who would have ever thought! Silly thing is, I'm secretly so grateful to have the chance to do that for him. There were many lonely nights where I would have given my right arm for the chance to fold a man's clothes if it meant having one to love me. Mr. Right told me that folding his underoos isn't necessary, but I can't bear the thought of stuffing a jumbled mess into his drawers. And so I fold his laundry and thank the good Lord for bringing him to me.

4. Someone else brings my trash cans in from the curb. This is something I've hated doing all my life, and every time I come home to find my trash cans neatly back in their place inside our garage, I get a bit sentimental. I think Mr. Right is just relieved that I'm so easily pleased.

5. There is a man in my bed! For a girl who has slept alone for 30 years, this has taken some getting used to. I haven't had a solid night's sleep in over a month, but every time I wake up to the sensation that someone is lying next to me, I am so thankful that he's there. And he knows I'm there, because my icy cold feet keep kicking him in my sleep. Sorry about that.

6. He brings me coffee in the morning. Before Mr. Right came along, one of my favorite things was the rare occasion where I would remember to set the coffee pot up the night before and the automatic timer would brew my coffee and have it ready when I woke up. Now my automatic brewer is this cute brown-eyed thing who brings it in every morning as I shake off my sleepiness. It's my favorite thing. He also cooks me breakfast.

7. Before Mr. Right came, I used to hang pictures with thumb tacks and duct tape. Now we use wall anchors and a drill. We were lying in bed one night, and I bragged to him that I had hung the very large, very heavy piece of artwork that was hanging over our headboard. And then I saw a look of panic rush over his face as he very quietly asked me... "What did you hang that with?" Don't worry... I used a LOT of tacks. You can never be too safe! (Just kidding, I used wall anchors. But I'm not good at measuring so there may or may not be about a dozen mistake-holes behind that gorgeous piece of artwork, which we can NEVER TAKE DOWN.)

8. He asked me why I don't have any towel hooks in my bathroom. I told him it's because I don't know how to install them. The same reason every Christmas decoration I own was in my garage - because I can't lift the boxes into my attic. I have spent my whole life trying to figure out how to create a life that doesn't require much help, and all of a sudden I have a helper living with me. I still can't believe it. I am so, so thankful.

So married life is a bit weird (there is a 5-pound bag of protein in my pantry and men's razors on my shopping list), but it's also the most fun thing I've ever experienced. I think I could get used to this.

PS--Photo above is courtesy of McGowan Images. Check 'em out! (Our entire wedding gallery is posted there.)

Love, homemaking, and ear wax

There are some things I knew marriage would be. I knew it would be fun. And challenging. I knew I would get to live with my very best friend, that we would share a lot of laughs, some tears, and that we would grow closer than we ever knew was possible.

But three weeks in, I never knew we'd be SO COMFORTABLE with each other. Like, scary comfortable. Look-at-each-others'-ear-wax-comfortable.

That's right, we decided to undergo an ear candling experiment, and we're hooked! It was pain-free, effective, and both of us will do it again. We've had a lot of "I can't believe we're doing this" moments since we got married, but this one might have been the funniest. I'm not sure a couple has ever laughed as hard as we did as we took turns holding a giant flame 12 inches from one another's heads. A total riot.

I think my hippie husband is starting to rub off on me. He even has me listening to NPR. (gasp)

Other than the wild and crazy ear candling date, we've been hard at work trying to get our home unpacked and organized. I've lived here for four years now, but suddenly combining my things, his things, our new wedding gifts, plus all of our wedding supplies made for an unruly house. Slowly but surely we're tackling the house room-by-room until everything is finished. As if everything ever could be finished.

Here's what I want my entire house to look like:

(photo from the decor8 blog)

But this is what my spare bedroom looks like right now:

Now, in my defense, this is the VERY LAST ROOM on our list. This is what we have so lovingly called "the wedding room" because it housed all of our wedding supplies, wedding gifts, and anything else that I had to furiously move out of the way so my beloved Mr. Right could move in. It's still where we stash all the stuff we don't know what to do with, and it's so easy to close the door and make everything disappear. It's my lowest priority. But very soon, I promise it'll look like this:

(Photos from decor8... can you tell I'm sort of in love?)

Never fear, my whole house isn't in shambles... just that one room. And maybe a closet or two. Last night I tackled my home office, and I'm quite proud of how it turned out! I even ended up with TWO EMPTY CABINETS! Go me.